All posts by Repost

End of petrol? Solar power electric forecourt to charge electric cars in just TEN minutes

July 7, 2019Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

ULTRA-FAST electric car charging forecourts will roll-out across the UK this year with the start of a billion-pound project to build 100 solar-powered sites.

The first of more than 100 solar-powered forecourts to be built in the UK have been announced. Commercial vehicles will be able to recharge within 30 minutes at forecourts equipped with next-generation solar panels. While some smaller cars with high-speed charging can be fully topped up in just ten minutes. Gridserve, the British firm behind the billion pound project imagines their forecourts will eventually replace traditional petrol stations.

The first solar powered forecourt will be built in Braintree, Essex and Gridserve has already confirmed more than 80 sites will be built – with even more are in the pipeline.

“Airport-style” lounges will be built as part of the £1 billion ($1.31 billion) project, to offer commuters shops, and facilities as they wait for their cars to recharge.

Construction at sites in Hull and York are also expected to start before the end of the year.

V2G tech soon to be economically viable, ready to deliver millions in consumer benefits

July 6, 2019Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, V2GRepost

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) EV chargers could be economically viable in the near term and save hundreds of millions of pounds in grid costs, but only if the industry can deliver specific conditions.

That is the principal finding from a new report on the technology, published this week on the back of a government-funded competition surrounding the nascent technology.

The ‘Vehicle to Grid Britain’ report, led by Element Energy, forms part of the V2G competition funded by both the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and supported by Innovate UK.

It has garnered insight from consortium members including Nissan, Energy Systems Catapult, Cenex, WPD, National Grid ESO and Moixa, and produced a series of conclusions that it says uncovers both near-term niches and longer term opportunities for V2G.

Crucially, the report concludes that residential V2G charging could make economic sense in the near term, but only if a set of ideal operating conditions are met.

Rising CO2 emissions a problem of carmakers’ own making as they push SUVs but hold back electric car

July 5, 2019Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, PollutionRepost

Official new data from the EU’s environmental watchdog (EEA) shows that the CO2 emissions of new cars increased by 1.6% in 2018 to 120.4 grams of CO2 per km.

While the lack of progress in real-world emissions and fuel efficiency was known for years, [1] now even the optimised and unrealistic lab test tests can no longer hide the problem. For the first time, CO2 emissions from vans also rose, by 1.2%.

The main driver is the rising sales of polluting yet very profitable SUVs. The average petrol SUV sold last year emitted 133g CO2/km while the average of other petrol cars sold was 120g CO2/km, according to provisional EU data released today. Heavier and less aerodynamic – and therefore less fuel efficient – than other cars, SUVs now account for around a third of new cars sold in Europe – up from 7% in 2008 [2].

Julia Poliscanova, clean vehicles manager at T&E, said:

“Carmakers are playing a high risk game where they’re deliberately postponing sales of cleaner cars to maximise SUV-fueled profits. It may please their shareholders but it’s a tragedy for our planet. These figures are a stark reminder that governments need to be much more forceful when it comes to promoting zero emission vehicles, in particular by reforming vehicle taxation and rolling out charge points.”

Electric Vehicles — Thinking People’s Cars

July 4, 2019Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesRepost

What’s the ROI (return on investment) for filling a gas car? None, zero! You pay from the moment you sign on the dotted line — engine repairs, routine maintenance, gas, gas, and gas. Did I mention gas? Automakers love you, auto dealers love you, repair shops love you, and the fossil fuel industry loves you. Why not? You’re constantly at their doors with your wallet open.

Many studies showing the cost of owning an electric vehicle (EV) as opposed to a fossil fuel vehicle (FFV) are distorted and biased toward FFVs, as we’ve simply been programmed to think from a FFV perspective. This is by design, just like the skillful manipulation that has people pulling up to the pump without thinking about what’s going on and how devastating it is to them and the environment. The technological advantages and power of EVs when combined with renewables should not be underestimated or overlooked when we compare different propulsion systems.

You can never drive a gas car for the cost of driving an EV. You will always be tethered to the pump, but you will always have the option of paying very little to nothing for the energy to drive an EV. An unfair comparison? When we list the benefits of driving both cars, automakers are quick to point out how fast a gas car can be refilled, so if that’s a benefit of gas cars then surely being able to charge an EV from your own power is a benefit of electric cars. Combining EVs and renewables forms a bond that gas cars can not compete with and as technology improves, as it has done and will keep on doing, this will only get better. As charging rates continue to go up, the line between filling a gas car and charging an EV will vanish, and we are already starting to seeing this.

Switching to an electric car could save you £41,000 in your lifetime

July 3, 2019Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesRepost

SWITCHING to an electric car could save drivers a whopping £41,000 over their lifetime, finds new research.

The future of the car industry is with electric cars. Carmakers and governments are pushing towards these zero emissions vehicles as new emissions and pollution targets need to be met. Electric cars are, however, still more expensive to buy on average than petrol and diesel variants and also perceived to be pricier. Recent research estimates that electric cars will become as affordable as petrol and diesel cars by as early as 2024.

However, they could already be a savvier investment and save you thousands over the course of your lifetime.

New research actually suggests the buying an electric car could save you £41,000 over your life.

The average British motorist will spend over a staggering £56,000 on petrol in a lifetime, according to new figures.

With the average lifetime cost of charging an electric vehicle coming in at just over £15,000, savvy Brits could save over £41,000 on fuel by going electric in the near future.

Nissan Has Served Up A Treat With This Electric Ice Cream Van

July 2, 2019e-NV200, Electric Vans, News, Reviews and Comment, NissanRepost

An electric vehicle you’ll hear coming.

Nissan has partnered with the famous Mackies of Scotland to create a rather sweet concept vehicle.

The electric vehicle pioneers and the ice cream brand have collaborated to create an all-electric ice cream van for “Clean Air Day” in the U.K. on June 20th, which demonstrates how a “Sky to Scoop” approach can remove carbon dependence at every stage of “the ice cream journey.”

Going green is nothing new for Mackies, which powers its family-owned dairy farm by renewable wind and solar energy, but most ice cream vans across Britain are powered by diesel engines which stay running even when the van is stopped to power the fridges and freezers onboard.

In fact, some U.K. towns and cities are even looking to ban ice cream vans – which is a preposterous thought, even for someone like me who can’t eat ice cream. Nissan’s new concept provides something of a solution to the impending doom of the good old ice cream van, reducing its carbon footprint while keeping kids happy and parents predictably out of pocket.

Nissan Leaf EV long-term test: the 10-month verdict

July 1, 2019Electric Cars, Leaf, News, Reviews and Comment, NissanRepost

Month 10 of our Nissan Leaf long-term test: the end verdict is in

With increasing rarity a car will come along delivering such a knockout punch in one specific area that it completely recalibrates your clemency counter, and you find yourself forgiving it for all its other shortcomings and foibles. Nissan’s new Leaf did that to me. Quite unexpectedly, too.

Before it arrived I was thoroughly ambivalent about it, and the affordable electric revolution it spearheaded. There were the unfounded but pervasive concerns that it would slowly whirr to a silent halt at the most inopportune time and in the most inopportune location possible. There was all that faff with the army of smartphone apps and online accounts required to charge on the fly. A cursory glance at a sparsely-populated charger location map wasn’t exactly confidence-inspiring. All this – not to mention that it looked gawky – almost sealed the Leaf’s fate before I drove it. How wrong I was.

It took just a month and 1000 miles to realise my mistake. I recall with clarity parking up at home after returning from Weybridge – a 140 mile trip undertaken at get-a-serious-wiggle-on-or-we’re-going-to-be-late pace – and realising I’d not given a second through to the Leaf’s range. I enjoyed its warm pre-heated cabin when I set off. I saw off a couple of surprised tailgating BMWs and Audis on some fast A-roads. I loved the superb Bose sound system. I found its silent and smooth driving characteristic incredibly relaxing. And the best bit was working out that electricity for the trip cost me just over a fiver. The price of two cups of coffee. I realised I was riding on the cusp of what will soon be the new normal for many drivers – and I was thoroughly enjoying the journey into the future.

2019 Nissan Leaf e+ review: price, specs and release date

June 30, 2019Electric Cars, Leaf, News, Reviews and Comment, NissanRepost

To keep up in the electric car arms race, the Nissan Leaf gets more range, thanks to a larger-capacity battery. Does this make the e+ more appealing than the regular model?…

Priced from £39,395 (before £3500 gov. grant) Release date Now

Electric cars, such as the new Nissan Leaf e+, may not be the panacea for the crisis of climate change, but they can certainly help, even if only on a local level, to clean up the air in our cities. It’s a good job, then, that we’re in the midst of an electric car arms race.

What do we mean by that? It’s all about range. Just five years ago, tackling the London-to-Brighton run in a Kia Soul EV would’ve been pushing it. Then along came Tesla and simply blew away the mainstream manufacturers with the ever-increasing range of its Model S. And now they’re catching up – fast.

The Kia e-Niro, our 2019 Car of the Year, is capable of covering around 280 miles between charges, according to the official WLTP test, as is its sister car, the Hyundai Kona Electric. So, despite having been launched only last February, the regular Leaf’s official range of 168 miles now looks feeble. The Leaf e+ increases it to a claimed 239 miles, thanks to a bigger battery – 62kWh over 40kWh.

Peugeot e-2008 electric SUV: pictures and details revealed

June 29, 2019e-2008, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, PeugeotRepost

Electric version of Peugeot 2008 small SUV joins e-208 hatchback in range

Peugeot has released details and pictures of the e-2008 – an SUV version of the already-revealed Peugeot e-208 electric hatchback and a sister model to the forthcoming DS 3 Crossback E-Tense.

The e-2008 comes with a 50kWh battery and an official range of 193 miles – slightly less than the 211 miles claimed by the e-208 and what potential rivals like the Kia e-Niro and Hyundai Kona Electric can manage.

However, Peugeot suggests the e-2008 will undercut those models on price. It also says the car will have a 134bhp electric motor and be capable of using 100kW rapid chargers, with an 80% top-up taking just 30 minutes.

As with the Peugeot 208, pure electric is just one of three powertrain options that’ll be offered with the 2008; diesel and petrol variants will also feature in the range. There’ll be 1.2-litre petrols with 99, 128 and 153bhp outputs, as well as a 99bhp 1.5-litre diesel.

New LEVC electric van based on London taxi could be a game changer

June 28, 2019Electric Cars, Electric Vans, LEVC, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

THE all-new LEVC electric van is based on the LEVC London cab which has 80-miles of zero-emissions range and a 377-range-extender hybrid.

The makers of the new electric London cab has now developed a new van which could be a game changer in cities. LEVC’s new commercial vehicle is a zero-emissions light van which is similar to a Ford Transit in size. It was unveiled by London Mayor Sadiq Khan and LEVC CEO Joerg Hofmann at the Institution of Engineering and Technology. The vehicle is based on the same architecture and proven e-City range extender technology as LEVC’s TX taxi, of which there are now just under 2,000 on the roads.

It has an all-electric range of 80-miles, making it suitable for city drivers and with a range extender petrol engine it has a total range of 377-miles.

Therefore it is essentially a plug-in hybrid but achieves more pure electric range than a typical hybrid.

The vehicle will allow the driver to avoid any city driving charges and reduce the amount spent on fuel over time.